I’m crazy about fresh coconut water.

Whenever in India, I’m lucky enough to be able to drink it straight from the coconut itself, but in London I’m wary that store-bought coconut water is not always all that it’s cracked out to be. Often made from reconstituted concentrate/ sourced from mature coconuts/ artificially sweetened; and/ or heat-pasteurised to extend shelf life, not only is the nutritional value of such drinks diluted down, but the natural flavours also lost…

Given my rather long list of concerns, I was incredibly excited to discover the Mighty Bee.

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Launched earlier this year, the all-organic food company specialises in virgin and raw coconut water and meat. And as part of their focus on promoting food transparency and food democracy, they pay farmers three times more for each coconut!

All pictures provided by Mighty Bee

What’s remarkable also is that both the virgin coconut water and meat are completely unprocessed. Mighty Bee promise tree to the bottle/ bag within 24 hours, by blast-freezing them at the source in Thailand before shipping to the U.K. While the raw coconut water has been cold-pasteurised under a high pressure process, allowing a longer refrigerated shelf-life of 45 days.

They were kind enough to send me a few bottles of both the virgin and raw coconut waters to sample, as well as a frozen pack of coconut meat.

Unbelievably fresh, Mighty Bee’s drinks are set apart by their sharp but natural sweetness, as they use only young green Nam Hom coconuts from Thailand. The Mighty Bee team travelled across South East Asia for three months in search of the sweetest coconuts, before finding these along the river delta in the north of Bangkok! Well, having had a lovely taste, I have to confess that I’m hooked – this has got be the most delicious way to stay hydrated this summer.

In case you were wondering, coconut meat is the soft, thin, white flesh hand-scooped from inside the coconut once the water is taken out. It’s loaded with anti-oxidants, but also live enzymes and medium-chain fatty acids, helping digestion. It’s tasty enough to eat from the bag, but also unlocks a whole world of innovative dishes from vegan raw coconut jerky (yep, you read right!) to coconut-matcha puddings.

The company talks us through some of these below. What really appeals to me, is that none require added sugar or sweeteners, as the Thai coconuts that they use are the sweetest in the world! I hope you enjoy experimenting with their recipes as much I did.

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Teriyaki Coconut Jerky

• To make the Teriyaki sauce, heat soy sauce, MightyBee Virgin Coconut Water, sweet rice wine, a clove of garlic and fresh ginger in a small saucepan over moderately high heat.
• Cut MightyBee Virgin Coconut Meat into strips.
• Pour the Teriyaki sauce onto the coconut meat strips, massaging them together.
• Leave to soak for 30 minutes.
• Transfer to a non stick dehydrator sheet.
• Dehydrate for 12 hours at 44°C.

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Coconut Energy Bonbon

• Soak dates in hot water for 10 minutes.
• Grind nuts, seeds, MightyBee Virgin Coconut Meat and spirulina in a food processor to a coarse-fine consistency.
• Add strained dates and blend the mixture.
• Add MightyBee Virgin Coconut Water, coconut oil, nut butter and continue to blend until all the ingredients are well mixed.
• Shape into balls.

For Raspberry Bonbons, roll balls in raw raspberry powder. When blending the mixture you can also add some frozen dry raspberry.

For Sesame Bonbons, roll balls in white sesame seeds and coconut with a touch of spirulina for colour.  When blending the mixture you can also add fresh mint to counter the taste of the spirulina.

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 Tai Chi Yin Yang Pod

• Yin: Soak chia seeds in MightyBee Virgin Coconut Water in the fridge overnight to make Chia Jelly.
• Yang: Blend red dates, Himalyan goji berries, MightyBee Virgin Coconut Meat, peanuts and walnuts in a blender with MightyBee Virgin Coconut Water.
• Dress it with goji berries on top.

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Strawberry Coconut Yoghurt

Make a smooth coconut milk by simply blending MightyBee Virgin Coconut Meat and MightyBee Virgin Coconut Water.

• Heat the milk and add thickener such as tapioca starch.
• Add probitoics, whisk to combine and place in a dehydrator at 43°C.
• Leave it for 12 to 24 hours without disturbing.
• Place the set yoghurt into the fridge and chill for at least 6 hours.
• Stir in pre-made raw strawberry jam.

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Matcha Chrysanthemum Coconut Pudding

• Blend matcha powder with MightyBee Virgin Coconut Water and MightyBee Virgin Coconut Meat, almonds and dry chrysanthemum.
• Add chia seeds, stir until even and place in the fridge overnight.
• Add chrysanthemum to the pudding when consuming.

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Rose Coconut Smoothie

• Blend crushed dry rose petals with MightyBee Virgin Coconut Water and MightyBee Virgin Coconut Meat.
• Adjust the thickness of the smoothie by altering the amount of coconut water.

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